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ONE CENT CAPITAL
By Mildred Caroline GoodVidge.
"And to my second nephew, Itonald
Blair; as a reminder of-hi's remarkable
powersfof memory, .Heave the;munifi
cent4sum of one, penny.- As he has
seen fit to imitate,nry peculiarities in
private, so .may he jcp'py inyvdiligence,
beginning "life- on -one cent capital,
which is -more than I had at the
"That's he -Real Stuff;"
start, and making-his own way in the
world!"' , .
The legatee in question' listened to
the. slow, measured' tones 6f liawyer
Jones like one' iij a.dream? The read
er of the:last.lland'testament of
Jepthah Blair, stem'practical man as
he was, cast a mournful and sympa
thetic 'look at the young man. He
likedBlair immensely,. as did" every
- one' else 'in, the "town' unless it was
Hugh;- Telfprd, ''seated "ialsou in the
. apartment. He" sed-viciously and
triumphantly. He-was-safe'-ashore'
while Ronald was floundering in dark
waters.' The "Blair 'Plat" was id he
given to Telfprd, together with stocks'
anibonds valued, at $.10,000.
"j suppose, you feel like cursing
Uncle Jepthah," insinuated this pre
cious young.schemer and spendthrift.
Ronald was -pale; disappointment
arid' chagrin showed in his frank,
sensative face." If hardened . as he
fixedhis clear accusing eyes upon his
sneering relative.
"No," he replied steadily. "If I
was of the cursing sort you might
come in foryourshare, for I under
stand, now."
He left the lawyer's office as he
spoke and a shade of anger, and fear
crossed the features of Telford.' Ron
ald had -to admit, that he had expect
ed a substantial legacy. He.has every
reason to anticipate it Itwas cruel,
after all his-hopes-and plans, and his
heart sank like lead as he. thought of
Ruth Mason, .his fiance.
Where should he go for comfortT
save to.her?T It was his privilege, his
right, and half an hour later ,he was'
seated by her side on tne porch, of
the Mason home. f
"IE t must be between you and me;,
all. that I, have to tell you, dear," he
said to the pitying .angel'at his kde.
"Two;yeai!s ago when Hugh and I
were, at college there was a character
play. In it) was a .miserly old fellow,
in ,dress and .actions so fully a coun
terpart of Uncle Jep'thah that many
recognized it. This came to his ears,
and 4 that will was made. In reality
Hugh had made the suggestion of the
character to a chum, and rather
gloated over "'showing up the 'old
skiri"fliht?uas he called his uncle. Then
"when the, matter got public he be
came frightened and told uncle that
I'was the culprit:" '
"But you told me that later every
thing' was explained to Mr. Blair,"
suggested, Ruth.
. ','That is true, and uncle- took me
back into his good graces. He even
called upon Hugh in my -presence to
,VeiifyIn;statementthat he'had de-